Writing implement flashlight attachment



Dec. 22, 1953 c. R. HETTRICK WRITING IMPLEMENT FLASHLIGHT ATTACHMENT Filed May 51, 1951 Patented Dec. 22, 1953 IMPLEMENT FLASHLIGHT ATTACHMENT Carl R. Hettrick, Terrace Park, Ohio Application May 31, 1951, Serial No. 229,014

An object of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified, light-transmitting attachment which may be readily attached to conventional pocket flashlight casings to convert said flashlights to self-illuminating implements.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an attachment having the foregoing characteristics a means for cutting away the material thereof to expose successive portions of a de-- pletable element of the attachment in a manner similar to the method of sharpening an ordinary pencil:

With the foregoing and other objects in View I have devised the attachment construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification. It is, however, to be understood I am not limited to the specific details disclosed but may employ various changes and modifications within the scope or" the appended claims:

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the usual pocket flashlight with my attachment thereon, and is illustrative of the manner of use of the self-illuminating implement formed by the resulting assemblage.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken centrally through the attachment and a part of the flashlight shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of my attachment.

Fig. 4 is a central section of a modification of the attachment shown in Figs. 1-3.

There is shown, for the purpose of illustration only, a conventional pocket flashlight 5 which has a tubular, metal casing t for housing one or more electric batteries 1, said batteries being entered and removed through one end of the casing that is closed by a screw cap 8. A lamp socket assembly 9 is fixed in the opposed end It of the casing by welding, or the like; the socket being preferably formed with an interior thread ll, adjacent the mouth thereof, and with a second thread l2 for receiving the usual electric lamp bulb I3.

A suitable switch for the flashlight is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing and comprises a control disc It made of electric insulating material and is disposed for rotary and axial movement within the casing and between the lamp [3 and the batteries I. This disc carries an electric contact 1 Claim. (01. 240-646) 2 in theform of a metal grommet 15 which is..located centrally of the disc, the batteries being urged in an axial direction against the grommet by means of a spring (not shown) that is lo-' cated, in the usual manner, between the bottom of the cupterminalgfor the batteries and the interior of the cap 8. A pin [6 projects from the disc l4 into and through an inclined slot ll formed in the casing, said pin entering a recess la in a ring shaped, switch element I9 encircling the casing 6. It will therefore be understood that the bulb I3 is energized by rotating the switch element l9, which in turn moves the pin It on the control disc it in the inclined slot I 7 thereby moving the disc axially to permitthe grommet l5 to come in contact with the center terminal 20 on the lamp bulb. l3. Counterrotation of the control member I!) will return the switch parts to the off position shown in Fig. 2.

My attachment for converting flashlights of the type described hereinbeiore into self-illuminating implements is generally indicated by the reference numeral 2] and consists of a translucent, implement carrying shank 22 constructed of a plastic material having a low impact strength and. which preferably has the ability to transmit light rays axially therethrough. This implement is shown in the drawing as a writing pencil having a depletable, graphite rod 23 extending exially through the shank 22. Because of the low impact strength of the plastic material from which the shank is constructed the pointed tip 24 of the shank is cut back by means of a knife or with the usual pencil sharpening devices so as to progressively expose successive portions of the graphite rod as it is depleted during use.

The end of the shank opposed to the pointed end 24 is provided with a head 25 formed integral with the shank 22. A recess 25 is formed centrally in a lateral face 21 of the head to receive the bulls-eye portion 28 of the lamp It. When the lamp is energized light rays from the bulls eye 28 are transmitted axially through the material of the shank 22 so that a substantial portion of said rays are emitted from the shank at the pointed portion 24 thus illuminating the surface of the object to which the implement is to be applied as in writing, or the like.

The hollow lamp sockets for the various types of flashlight casings, like the one illustrated in the drawing by the numeral 5, make it necessary to provide various mounting means for my attachment 2! so that it may be detachably mounted to these various flashlight casings. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the mounting means for my attachment 21 is an external thread 29 formed in the side wall 30 of the head 25 for the attachment. This thread 29 cooperates with the internal thread ll formed in the lamp socket is of the flashlight casing 6. A modification of the mounting means for my attachment is shown in Fig. 4, wherein a thin bodied sleeve 3| extends upwardly from the periphery of the head 25 and is formedintegral with. the head itself. The plastic material from which the shank and head are formed is characterized further by the fact that it is elastic in relatively thin layers to the end that the thin bodied sleeve 3|- may be forced over the open, socket end H) of a flashlightand; the attachment held thereon by the gripping characteristics of the attachment material for the sleeve portion.

What is claimed is:

A writing implement for attachment to the open, lamp socket end of. a flashlight casing comprising an elongated, depletable writing rod and z rigid, hollow shank. having a one piece bod-y made of translucent, plastic material character ized by its low impact strength, said one-piece shank body having an axial opening therethrough to hold and completely surround the depletable writing rod such that the outside surface of the rod is in close contact with the internal surface of the shank that is formed by the opening therethrough, and means formed integral with the shank for mounting the writing implement to the lamp socket end of the flashlight.

CARL R. HETTRICK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,937,104 Thomsen Nov. 28, 1933 2231,410 Kern et al. Feb. 11, 1941 2,231,320 Williams NOV. 4, 1941 2,407,106 Shelly Sept. 3, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 340,957 Great Britain May 31, 1929 799,702 France Apr. 11, 1936 978,634 France Nov. 29, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES Tenite Catalog, ed. 3A, 1936, page 4, Tenn. Eastman Corp. 

